Power generating systems having a gas turbine are widely known. Such power generating systems are used not only for generating electrical power, but also for providing mechanical power, e.g. for driving ships and vehicles.
A typical gas turbine comprises a compression stage, a combustion stage and an expansion stage. Turbine blades that compress inflowing air in the compression stage are connected by means of a driveshaft to turbine blades in the expansion stage. The compressed air then enters the combustion stage, where it is heated by combustion of fuel. This hot, compressed air then enters the expansion stage, where the hot, compressed air expands and imparts energy onto the turbine blades of the expansion stage. This not only drives the driveshaft for outputting power, but also provides the energy necessary to rotate the turbine blades in the compression stage.
After imparting energy onto the turbine blades in the expansion stage, the hot air, typically denoted as a flue gas due to the presence of combustion byproducts resulting from combustion of the fuel, enters a flue gas exhaust stage where heat may be extracted from the flue gas and/or the flue gas may undergo scrubbing to reduce the number of contaminant particles in the flue gas to prevent them from being released into the atmosphere.